Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 4, 31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!” And a report about him began to reach every place in the region.
Cast Out the Devil!
1)He spoke with authority. Jesus is a man with authority because of the consistency between his words and his actions. His words and his actions are one. Words and actions are two sides of the same coin. You can’t speak words of love but then have your actions contradict the words you have just spoken. Your actions speak louder than words. And don’t speak for too long, get to the point, so that your message is received without boring people.
2)‘Possessed by the devil.’ This refers to people who have no peace within their heart. They may feel tortured by everything. They may live in a world filled with hate and prejudice. Their world is noisy and silence is their enemy. They want to be heard, even if they are shouting out hate. They always want to be right and have the last word. Those who have no inner peace don’t know how to have a conversation, they’re insecure. Today, it’s important to see if you’re ‘shouting’ or ‘listening.’ Work to have inner peace in your life, to welcome the conversations that need to be had.
3)‘Be quiet and come out.’ We need to be saved by Jesus. We need Him to quieten us inside. We need Him to silence those inner voices that torment us day after day: the fear of losing our money, fear of losing our spouse, or fear of failure. Those fears can torment us so much that we need quiet to put our thoughts in order, to put our life in order, to put our prayer in order. May the silence of God reign so we can recover inner peace. However, we must get that demon out because otherwise, we may stay locked up in ourselves. We need to open our minds and change our outlook on life. As the Pope says, “time is greater than space.” So, all in good time, because remember: Heaven is our goal!
